


A New Team

by My Old Works (TheFairMaidenofFandom)



Series: YJ x MLB [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug, Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Adrien Agreste Knows, Bad Puns, Brother-Sister Relationships, Dick Grayson is Robin, F/M, Foreign Language, Language Barrier, Marinette Dupain-Cheng Knows, Minor Kon-El | Conner Kent/M'gann M'orzz, Wally West is a Flirt, Young Justice Season 1, no beta we die like jason
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-18
Updated: 2020-03-06
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:20:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22790872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheFairMaidenofFandom/pseuds/My%20Old%20Works
Summary: The Justice League offers to take down Hawkmoth in exchange for Ladybug and Chat Noir to join the Young Justice team.Marinette loves the new team.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug/Wally West, Minor Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Kagami Tsurugi - Relationship
Series: YJ x MLB [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1638466
Comments: 34
Kudos: 400





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I am just really bad with titles lately, aren't I?

Marinette loved her team.

She really did.

She remembered the day Diana had first recruited her and Adrien.

Apparently, the League had only caught wind of the Hawkmoth situation about a month in. Because the damage had always been reversed, they hadn’t believed it.

Until Wonder Woman heard the word Ladybug. She _knew_ what the Ladybug miraculous could do, and she recognized its power.

She wasn’t sure if the parents knew or not, so she made up a story about her being a friend of Bruce Wayne, who had offered Marinette an internship in his Paris offices.

Diana almost felt bad about how excited the couple was.

They called up to Marinette to tell her she had company, and when she ran down, she tripped on the last stair, nearly falling on her face.

Nevertheless, Diana smiled at the girl. “Hello Marinette, I am Diana Prince. Is there somewhere more private we could talk?”

The girl’s smile froze a little, but she recovered quickly, offering her bedroom.

As soon as the trap door shut, a red blur flew out of Marinette’s purse, stopping just in front of Diana’s face.

Diana dropped to one knee, bowing before Tikki as Marinette hissed out, “Tikki, what are you doing?!”

“You can get up Diana.” Tikki said, smiling warmly. “It’s always nice to meet the children of a former holder.”

“Former holder?!”

“It is an honor to meet you Tikki, and you, Ladybug.” Diana rose gracefully.

“Um, you too? Tikki?”

Tikki finally acknowledged her current holder. “Marinette, this is the daughter of my former holder, Hippolyta.”

“Didn’t you say Hippolyta was queen of the Amazons? That would make you..” Her eyes widened and she backed into her chaise, falling backwards over it. She whispered in awe, “You’re Wonder Woman!”

“Yes I am. And you, Ladybug, and your partner Chat Noir are people of interest to the Justice League.”

Marinette put her hands over her ears. “I’m not giving you my Miraculous.”

“We would never dream of asking that. I have come to recruit you, given my connection to the Miraculi. There is a team of young heroes-in-training that the Justice League mentors, and you and Chat Noir would be great assets to it.”

Marinette still looked wary, but after a nod from Tikki, seemed to finally realize that what was being said was a real opportunity. She nodded slowly. “You know who we both are?”

“Batman helped us with that, but yes we do.”

“Okay, well, I’m going to be calling Adrien over here, and then you can tell both of us at the same time.”

“Of course.”

Marinette had gone up onto her balcony to fangirl with Tikki about Wonder Woman while she waited.

Adrien had dropped down onto her terrace less than ten minutes after she called him, and they walked back inside together.

“Adrien, this is Diana Prince, Diana, this is Adrien.”

Plagg flew out of his shirt pocket, sniffing at Diana, who again bowed, and settled on Marinette’s bed with Tikki and cheese from Adrien.

They sat on the chaise, and Diana took the desk chair. They nodded at her to begin speaking. “As you both know by now, I formed the Justice League with both Batman and Superman. A few months ago, a team of young heroes was formed. The members of the team include: Superboy, Robin, who is Batman’s partner, Kid Flash, Miss Martian, Artemis, Aqualad, and on occasion, Zatanna.”

“So you want us to work for the Justice League? Why us?”

“The Miraculi are objects of great interest for the League, and we would like to mentor you.”

“So you want us for the Miraculous.”

“No. Young heroes, no matter how powerful, need guidance. You were both thirteen when you became responsible for the safety of Paris. I, myself am over 5,000 years old, and still require help and guidance from my colleagues. Everyone needs help.”

Marinette was interested, but needed more convincing. “So we’d be working for you, and you’d be getting access to one of the most powerful objects in existence? What do we get?”

“We can help you with Hawkmoth. Batman knows who he is, and out of respect, has decided to wait for your permission before taking him down.”

Marinette and Adrien shared a look. It sounded too good to be true. “What about our parents? Would we be forced to tell them? And would we be able to continue a normal life?”

“So they don’t know. We didn’t think so, but couldn’t be sure. The cover story I gave your parents before now, was that you were offered an internship with Wayne Enterprises Paris. And yes, secret identities are very much an option. Most of the League has one.”

“Would we have to tell them to the team we’d be working with?”

“No. Robin has not yet revealed his either.”

“Do you mind if we talk it over for a few minutes?”

“Of course not. Take as long as you need.”

They dashed up to the balcony, whispering furiously. 

“Mari, I think we should do it. They’re the _Justice League_. Plus, we’d finally be done with Hawkmoth!”

Marinette bit her lip. “I want to do it too. I can’t really find any reason not to.”

“So we’re doing it?”

“Yes, but let’s talk to the kwamis first. I don’t think they know I’m the Guardian either, so we would still need to hide that.”

“But you think we should?”

“Yeah.”

After a few minutes of deliberating with Tikki and Plagg, they accepted Diana’s offer. She agreed to take them to their new team base the next day.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette and Adrien meet the team.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the longest chapter I've ever written for anything, and I am having so much fun writing this!
> 
> Also, anything in italics is supposed to be French. Plus the parts in actual French.
> 
> I had to look up the bios of the team, but apparently all of them actually do speak French except M'gann and Kaldur, though M'gann can psychically talk to anyone.

When Diana had told them to meet her here, this was not what Marinette expected. It was some old phone booth a couple of blocks outside of the more beautiful parts of the city.

“ _Do you think she was just messing with us?_ ”

“ _Nah, she’s Wonder Woman. She’s probably just flying here_.”

As he said that, there was a flash from the inside of the phone booth, and Wonder Woman was inside. “Whoa!”

“ _Yes, it is rather impressive, isn’t it?_ ”

“ _What was that?_ ”

“ _This phone booth is one of our Zeta platforms. We have them all over the world, and are how we travel to different areas so quickly._ ”

“ _So they’re teleporters? That’s awesome!_ ” Diana seemed amused with Adrien’s excitement.

“Yes, step inside please. You both have temporary codes, which will be amended as soon as we reach the base.”

“ _Cool!_ ” Adrien almost leapt into the booth, smiling all the way.

Diana spoke into a microphone on the outside of the box. “Computer, authorize temporary codes: D-02.”

“Codes authorized.” Adrien disappeared, and Marinette stepped in.

“Computer, authorize temporary codes: D-01.”

When Marinette rematerialized, she was standing inside some kind of secret base. Looking at the ceiling, she wanted to say they were in some kind of cave, but it was too big for that.

She saw Adrien a few steps ahead, gawking at the whole place. To be honest, it was rather impressive. Everything looked high-tech and expensive. She elbowed him, making him finally notice the small group of heroes gathered, watching the both of them.

She hadn’t even had a chance to step forward when there was a rush of air, and then a boy standing in front of her. “Kid Flash, at your service.” He tried to kiss her hand, but she pushed his face away with one finger, smiling sweetly. She heard a laugh from the group, but couldn’t tell who it was.

“I am Ladybug, and it is nice to meet you.” She looked to Adrien to make sure she’d said it correctly, happy when she got a thumbs up.

A green girl flew up to her, smiling. “I’m M’gann! I love your accent!”

“Thank you!”

The group seemed to dissolve as the heroes one by one came over to greet each of them, leaving a boy in a horrible costume, and Batman.

She leaned closer to Adrien, whispering quietly, _“The boy in the traffic light costume is Robin, yes?”_

She saw the newly introduced Superboy smirk at her words, and wondered if he heard her or not.

Batman walked forward, making his cape flow dramatically behind him. Robin followed suit, though slightly less dramatically. Batman stuck his hand out for a shake. “It is nice to meet you Monsieur Batman! Miss Diana told us that you found out who Hawkmoth is?”

“Yes. We can discuss it later."

She saw Adrien fangirling silently behind Batman, making the other heroes snicker. As Batman turned to him, he went stock-still and wide-eyed.

Robin stuck out his hand to her, giving her a charming smile. “It’s always a pleasure to meet new heroes.”

“You as well, Robin. That is how you say it, yes?”

“Yep! English is confusing sometimes, isn’t it?”

“Very! So many verbs, why?”

He chuckled. “I have no idea.”

“Do you know what we’re supposed to be doing?”

“We’re supposed to be getting to know each other, since you two are joining the team.”

“Ah.”

“What do you do in America for fun?”

Wally sped in front of her. “Anything you want, Beautiful.”

“Mm-hm.” She was far too desensitized to Adrien’s old flirting to actually give that any sort of reaction.

“We could do one of those get-to-know-you games!” M’gann clapped her hands together.

Marinette turned to Adrien questioningly. _“It’s a question-and-answer game. Like the ones from class?”_

“Oh. That sounds fun.”

“C’mon!” Wally was already seated on the couch, and patted the seat next to him. “You can sit next to me, Beautiful.”

“Okay! Chat, come on!” She plopped down next to Wally, and Adrien sat next to her, much closer than she was to Wally.

Artemis snickered at the blatant obliviousness to Wally’s flirting.

“Okay, I’ll go first, since we already know things about each other, I’ll ask Ladybug. Ladybug, do you have any hobbies? I like baking!”

Ladybug looked confused for a moment, before Chat leaned over and whispered the definition in her ear. “Oh! I do drawing, and I love baking.”

“Yay! Maybe we could make something together?”

“I would love that!”

Wally cleared his throat. “So, Ladybug, do you have a boyfriend?” Artemis let out a cough that sounded suspiciously like “smooth, Wally”.

She smiled happily. “Yes, I have many friends!”

Conner and Chat both snorted, with Chat again whispering into her ear. Ladybug flushed, before amending her answer. “Oh. No, I do not have a boyfriend.” She covered her face, muttering. “Why is English so hard?”

M’gann spoke. “Actually, I can link our minds! That way English won’t be a problem.”

Chat whispered to Ladybug again, presumably translating. When she whispered back, he spoke. “It won’t reveal our identities?”

“Nope! Robin uses it all the time, and we still don’t know who he is.”

“Alright!”

The team was familiar with the feeling, but the others could see how jarred Ladybug and Chat Noir were when the link was established.

M’gann spoke into the link. ‘Is everyone in?’

‘Yup!’

‘Yeah, I’m on.’

“Loud and clear M’gann!’

‘I’m on.’

They heard Ladybug speak into the link. ‘This is so cool! Chat, are you on here?’

‘Yep! This is the cat’s meow.’

Both Artemis and Ladybug groaned into the link.

‘Chat, I hear them everyday. I can’t handle your puns in my head.’

Wally couldn’t sound more excited. ‘You like jokes?’

‘No! No he does not!’ ‘I definitely do!’

Artemis sighed. ‘Now there are two of them.’

‘No no no. I can’t handle that.’

Chat spoke into the link, and looking at his body, the team realized he was pouting. ‘You’re so mean to me Bug.’

‘And you know you deserve it.’ By this point, the whole team was either laughing, snickering, or snorting.

Chat folded his arms and fell back on the couch.

Ladybug turned to Conner. 'By the way Superboy, do you have superhearing?''

'Yeah. I have to say, that is the best description of Robin's costume I've ever heard."

Ladybug flushed. 'I-I didn't know who he was!'

Wally sounded excited. 'What did you say about it?'

'I feel bad now.'

Conner smirked again. 'She said, the one in the traffic light suit is Robin, yes?' Everyone laughed, even Chat.

'Sorry Robin.'

'It's alright, I've heard worse. You were just describing it.''

'Still, I'm sorry.'

Chat spoke again, this time directed at Conner. 'You speak French?'

'Everyone on the team can except M'gann and Kaldur.'

M'gann decided to ask. 'Chat, Ladybug told us earlier, but do you have any hobbies?'

'Not really. My schedule's a bit too big to fit in hobbies.'

'Really? What do you do?'

'I take Mandarin, fencing, and I have my job, which I would tell you, but it could give away my identity.'

'That's cool!'

'It gets old after awhile.'

'He's really good at fencing though! There's a world class fencer in his class, and he's the only one who can even tie them.'

'Bug..'

'That's impressive!'

Kaldur, previously having decided to stay silent and observe, finally spoke into the link. 'Do either of you have formal training? Or are you self-taught?'

'I'm self-taught, and Chat's only training is fencing. Sorry.'

'It's not an issue. Black Canary leads training sessions here every week. I'm sure you can pick it up quickly.'

'Really? That's a relief. I thought I'd have to _claw_ my way up from the bottom.'

Ladybug smacked the side of his head for the pun, and then responded. 'Thank you! Honestly, that will make everything so much easier.'

'As I said, it's not an issue.'

'Can you guys tell me a bit about yourselves? I didn't even know some of you existed.'

'But I told you about all of them!'

'I wasn't listening Chat.' Artemis snorted again.

'Are you two siblings?'

'Kind of. I mean, I wish I could be her brother.' As soon as he said that, Wally grinned widely.

Ladybug threw her arms around him. 'Aww Chaton! That's so sweet. Maman and Papa have already basically adopted you anyways.'

'Bug, we're blocking up the link.'

M'gann hurried to reassure them. 'No, it's fine! It doesn't work like that. We're just listening to you two, since we don't really know you yet.'

'Oh.'

'Yep, you're good.'

'Okay, well, what are you guys' powers?'

'I have super speed!'

'I have superhearing, supervision, and I'm pretty .uch invulnerable.'

'That's really cool, Superboy.'

'Thanks.'

'I'm a Martian, so I have mental powers like telekinesis, this mind link, and I can read minds. Also I can fly.'

'Wow.'

'I'm just an archer.'

'No one's ever _just_ anything. I think archers are cool! Except for Dark Cupid.'

Chat winced. 'Sorry Bugaboo.'

She patted his knee as she listened to Robin speak.

'I've been trained by Batman, and I've been trained in acrobatics, but other than that, I'm normal.'

Wally chuckled at the severe understatement about his acrobatic abilities, but said nothing more.

'I'm from Atlantis, so I can breathe underwater, and I have my waterbearers.'

'What are those?'

'Essentially, I can manipulate water with them.'

Ladybug snorted. 'That would've been useful in the Syren fight.'

'What's the Syren fight?'

'What do you already know about our powers?'

'Nothing. Bats wouldn't tell us anything.'

'Okay, so we're both normal kids.' Chat snorted again. 'Okay, mostly normal kids. Our powers come from my earrings and his ring, and they also give us our suits!'

'Not to sound rude or anything, but why didn't you pick something with a little more.. protection?'

'We don't get to choose our suits, unfortunately. I think mine is way too bright, and the style is kind of lame.'

'It's not that bad, Bug.'

'Of course you'd say that, you have ears and a tail!'

'I don't really have a good argument for that. Anyway, I have the power of destruction, and she has creation. When I call on my special power, I can destroy anything I touch.'

'Whoa.'

'Wow dude.'

'Anything?'

'Yep, anything. Once, I accidentally destroyed the Eiffel Tower because my hand hit it in a fight.'

'That's impossible. The Tower is still there.'

'Yes, but that's only thanks to my power. My Cure can fix any damages from our battles. Which is really lucky, because otherwise Paris would have been destroyed twenty times over.'

'Your battles are that big?'

'Yes. Once one of Hawkmoth's monsters, named Syren, flooded all of Paris.'

'Who's Hawkmoth?'

'Our jewelry are called Miraculouses. I have the Ladybug Miraculous, and Chat has the Miraculous of the Black Cat. Hawkmoth stole the Butterfly Miraculous a long time ago, not from us, but he stole it nonetheless. He sends out monsters to try and get our Miraculouses.'

'Butterflies don't sound all that dangerous to me.'

'They are when they can possess your mind and change you into a monster.'

'How did the JLA not know about all this?'

Robin answered for them. 'Because the damage was always restored, there was no proof to warrant an investigation.'

'Oh.'

'Yes, but luckily Batman has agreed to help us find him. He said he'll tell us who he is later today.'

'Well that's good I guess.'

'Yes, I'm very excited! After two years, we'll finally get to find him.'

'Two years?!'

'Yes, and it's been a long two years.'

'You're right about that, Bugaboo.'

'Anyway, is there anything we should know?'

'I don't believe so. Anything we might be forgetting can be covered later.'

'Well, I am one of the most powerful heroes.'

Both Robin and Artemis chortled. 'Keep dreaming, Wall-man.'

'Ha ha, very funny Artemis.'

'I'm still funnier than you.'

'Are you two siblings?'

'No!' 'Ew, gross no.'

'Okay.' There was an awkward pause.

'Now what?'

Ladybug's earring beeped. 'Oh. Is there a private room you have? I need to recharge.'

'How do you recharge? Do you need anything special?'

'No, I already have cookies on me. I just need to feed Tikki, and then we can keep talking.'

'Who's Tikki?'

'She's what makes my earrings not earrings.'

'Oh.'

Kaldur stood up. 'Ladybug, you can step into any of the spare rooms. There are cameras, but I can assure you that anyone who has access to them already knows your identity.'

'Alright, thank you!' She shut the door, leaving Chat alone with the teenagers.

'Do you have a Tikki too?'

'Um no. Well, yes, but his name is Plagg. M-Ladybug got lucky with Tikki. She's pawesome, eats cookies, while I got stuck with Plagg, who only eats Camembert.'

'Ew. Isn't that that gross cheese?'

'Yes, it's disgusting. The worst part is that we have to carry the food around with us, so I end up always smelling like cheese.'

Ladybug was still in the mindlink, and argued. 'It's not that bad. You certainly like the quiches Maman makes with it.'

'That's different. Your Maman could make actual trash taste amazing.'

'Ooh, is she a chef?'

'Not a chef, but both she and my Papa work in food.'

'Cool! It's too bad about the cheese, Chat.'

'It's not too bad. The plus is that I always have a little friend with me, but the downside is that he's way more annoying than Tikki.' His ring beeped at that moment, making Chat roll his eyes. 'I'll be right back.'

He walked down the hallway, and entered the room with Ladybug.

The mindlink went quiet as the two recharged, presumably talking aloud instead of mentally. Robin decided to speak up. 'Ladybug, if you want, I'm sure I still have some of my old English books that helped me learn it.'

'That would be fantastic Robin! A-Chat has been trying to reach me, but I'm not getting far, especially with my accent.'

'You're doing great Bugaboo!'

'I think your English is pretty good.'

'I think it's fine!'

'I think your accent is adorable, Ladybug.'

'Thank you Kid Flash.'

'Anything for you!'

Chat snorted into the link. 'He flirts almost as much as I used to.'

'Yes, but he's not punning.' Conner could hear Chat say "claws out!" as Ladybug said "spots on!", and moments later they returned to the couch.

'Would it be okay if I drew a little? I love this cave look.'

'No problem! If you want, I can get you drawing stuff from anywhere in the world.'

'That's very impressive, but I don't really need it. I have my sketchbook here.'

She pulled the yo-yo off her side, opened it, and pulled out a sketchbook and a few pencils.

'Whoa! Where did that come from?'

'My purse. Anything that's in there before I transform can be accessed from my yo-yo.'

She walked to the middle of the room and plopped down. The rest of the heroes continued chatting in the mindlink until they heard the faintest bit of humming coming from Ladybug.

'Ladybug?' No answer.

'Sorry, she gets like this when she's really into her drawing. I'll get her.'

'No worries, I can do it!'

'Alright. What kind of food do they have in America? I know they have cheeseburgers, but what else?'

'Well, that's more of a stereotype than anything else..'

As they chatted in the mindlink, Wally sauntered over to Ladybug, trying to get her attention. "Ladybug? Ladybuggg?"

She startled a bit, while sketching out a skirt. "Hm? Oh, je suis desòle! I don't mean to get so distracted."

"No problem, Babe. What're you drawing?"

She looked very enthusiastic. "A dress! I love these walls, so I started with a.." The rest of her explanation devolved into rapid fire French.

He nodded as she explained. He spoke French, but she was going to fast for even him to translate.

"..et c'est ça!"

"That's amazing, Beautiful. So you're a fashion designer?"

"A.. what's the word? Amatrice!"

"I'd never be able to tell. I think it looks great." He had to restrain the urge to pump his fist as she blushed faintly.

Just then, Batman walked in. "Ladybug. Chat Noir. Are you ready to go over the plan for Hawkmoth?"

She stood up, putting her drawing supplies back into her yo-yo. "Now is fine. Chat?"

"Coming! It was nice _chatting_ with all of you!"

Ladybug and Chat Noir trailed out of the room after Batman, being disconnected from the mindlink as the team discussed what they'd seen.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette and Adrien find out Hawkmoth's identity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so I am very happy with the dialogue near the end of the chapter. Not so much the beginning.

Batman took them to what looked like one of those interrogation rooms from the movies. He spoke in fluent French. “ _Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Adrien Agreste. The room is insulated with lead, so Superboy can’t pick up our conversation._ ”

“ _Good.._ ”

“ _So who is Hawkmoth?_ ”

Without ceremony or sugarcoating, Batman finally let them know the identity of their enemy. “ _Gabriel Agreste is Hawkmoth._ ”

Marinette and Adrien both gasped in unison. Adrien looked as if his world was collapsing. “ _No, no no! Father can’t be..him._ ”

Marinette threaded her fingers through his hair. “ _I’m so sorry Kitty. But you know it’s probably true._ ”

“ _What am I going to do? If he’s.. him, Nathalie’s probably Mayura?_ ” Batman nodded, making him slump further into his partner as tears welled up in his eyes.

“ _I know it won’t be much of a help right now, but my parents could take you in. They already think of you as a son._ ”

“ _Thanks Bug, but what about everything else? Everyone’s gonna hate me!_ ” The tears finally slipped down his face as his shoulders shook.

She gave him a fierce look. “ _If anyone says anything to you, they go through Ladybug._ ”

He smiled weakly. “ _Thanks Bugaboo._ ” He turned back to Batman, who had gone quiet to allow him time to process. “ _What do we do now? Marinette had suspicions years ago, but she could never prove it._ ”

“ _Well Mr. Agreste-_ ”

“ _Please don’t call me that right now._ ”

“ _Very well. Adrien, do you wish to move in with the Dupain-Chengs?_ ”

“ _Yes._ ”

“ _Well then, the League’s main benefactor can get the process sped up. After Mr. Agreste’s arrest, we can have you officially adopted by them within 72 hours._ ”

He gaped. “ _Three days? Isn’t the process able to take up to sixty days?_ ”

“ _Yes._ ”

Marinette hugged him. “ _Think on the bright side. At least we’ll finally be siblings._ ”

“ _Yeah, I guess so.._ ”

“ _I apologize for my bluntness in delivering this news, but we do have a plan for neutralizing him._ ”

“ _Neutralizing?!_ ” “ _Neutralizing?!_ ”

He put a hand up, effectively silencing them. “ _Not elimination. Incarceration._ ”

“ _Oh. Okay then._ ”

He pulled up a map of the area surrounding Agreste Manor from a projector neither had noticed. “ _Miss Martian and Superboy would fly in from here, with Aqualad and Artemis on the Bioship, and Kid Flash would arrive here as backup. Robin, and the two of you would sneak into the Manor in order to attempt to take them by surprise._ ”

“ _It’s a good plan, but have you taken akumatization into consideration?_ ”

“ _We have. Martian Manhunter has already agreed to put mental shields on any JLA members._ ”

She looked at Adrien, reading his face. He didn’t want to take in his father, no matter how neglectful the man was. But he would do it anyway.

He sniffled once, and then wiped his green eyes. “ _Let’s do it._ ”

“ _Are you able to focus on the mission?_ ”

“ _Yes._ ”

He went over the plan with them one more time. They’d strike late that same night, as somehow Batman had found out that Gabriel was an early-riser. WIth Gabriel disoriented, hopefully they’d be able to overpower him without much of a struggle. They’d also have Robin hacking the camera feeds ahead of time, so as to have proof that was admissible in court.

The cover for Adrien was that the Justice League had found Hawkmoth's identity a few days ahead of time, and had warned Adrien so as to keep him out of the danger zone. That way he would be able to show his innocence without revealing his identity to the city.

Batman left to go brief the team, while Marinette ran through different scenarios in her head. Both heroes were still transformed, so she couldn't talk to Tikki.

Marinette couldn't believe it was Gabriel. If only she hadn't dismissed her suspicions last year. This could have been over and done with a full year prior.

" _Bug._ " Adrien's voice sounded raspy, and his red-tinted green eyes only enhanced his overall pitiable state as he fiddled with the end of her pigtail.

" _I'm so sorry Adrien._ "

" _No, I can hear you overthinking. Let it go, Mari. This is my fault. I live with him! How could I have not known?_ "

“ _Yes, but I should have known, Adrien. This is my fault, and my fault alone. I thought he might be Hawkmoth years ago, and I ignored it just because he was akumatized._ "

" _It's not your fault Bug._ "

" _Then it's not yours, Kitty._ "

" _I guess it's neither of our faults then._ "

He chuckled quietly. " _You and me?_ "

" _Always._ " She put her head over his, where it rested against her shoulder. She plucked her yo-yo off her waist, and flipped it open. She scrolled through the newest theories on the Ladyblog for a few minutes, before realizing the shaking of her shoulder was coming from Adrien. “ _Adrien.._ ”

“ _I’m-I’m sorry Bug, it’s just, no matter how bad he was, he’s still my father! I can’t believe he did this. Why did he do this?_ ” He lifted his head, looking at her with glassy, empty eyes. He choked on his words as he said, “ _Why didn’t he love me enough?_ ”

Marinette could feel her heart breaking for her partner. “ _Adrien, look at me. That- that horrible man is_ not _your father. He’s nothing more than a sperm donor for you. I don’t know why he did it, but he must’ve wanted the wish for something important to him._ ”

Adrien gasped. “ _Mom. He must want to bring back Mom. He never got over her._ ”

Marinette squeezed him as tightly as she could. “ _I’m so sorry Chaton._ ”

“ _I’ll be fine. I have you and the kwamis, and maybe soon I’ll even have your parents too._ ”

“ _You already do, Adrien. They love you just as much as they do me._ ” She glanced around the room, looking for a distraction, but finding nothing. “ _Y’know what? It’ll be like one long sleepover. We can get rid of my chaise, and put a bed there for you. I’ll clear off one side of my desk, and then you can have the other._ ” She moved one hand to rub his back, and the other to run through his hair again, just the way he liked it. “ _Maybe we can even paint the walls. The pink was getting a little old anyway._ ”

He gave her an amused huff. “ _I don’t think Plagg’ll like the pink._ ”

“ _Exactly! Maybe a light blue?_ ”

“ _Sure Bug._ ”

“ _Why don’t you take a nap, Minou? That way you won’t be as tired tonight. Detransform though, so Plagg won’t complain. I’ll keep watch to make sure no one comes in._ ”

He looked as though he wanted to protest, but thought better of it. When he released Plagg, the cat kwami silently picked up the cheese given to him by Marinette, and settled in the boy’s lap.

Within minutes, both cats were asleep, leaving Marinette alone with her thoughts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did quite a bit of research on the French adoption system, and the foster system. I couldn't figure out how long the process could take, so I just went with the American system for most of it.
> 
> For the plan, I know it's not very detailed, but I wanted something simple that I could expand on if I needed to.
> 
> Also, I already feel bad for an idea I have for somewhere more in the middle of this story.
> 
> Last but not least, please comment any ideas or suggestions, as well as feedback! I love you guys!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team takes down Hawkmoth.

By nightfall in Paris, Marinette was almost vibrating with nervous energy.

They were finally going to end Hawkmoth's reign of oppression.

Also, they were about to arrest Adrien's father.

She listened in on her comm, given to her by Batman himself.

Robin spoke over the line in careful French. " _Ladybug? Chat Noir? M'gann is about to start the mind link. Ready?_ "

" _Ready." "Ready._ "

'Everyone online?' There was a series of affirmatives, and Robin dropped down on onto the roof in front of them, almost giving Marinette and Adrien twin heart attacks.

'You almost gave me a heart attack!'

Wally sounded sympathetic, 'He did the drop-down-in-front-of-you thing, didn't he?'

"Is that normal for you?'

Robin smirked, 'Only for me. KF couldn't sneak up on someone to save his life.'

'I can too!' The two started bickering, and Marinette let her mind wander back to the upcoming battle.

Aqualad's voice broke through her thoughts. 'We're right above you all in camouflage mode. Move in.'

'Alright.' Marinette, Chat Noir, and Robin scaled the stone wall and landed softly in the garden below. She whispered to her partner, who had remained silent the entire time. " _Are you okay?_ "

" _I'll be fine, Bug._ " She rubbed his back but kept moving forward.

Robin was typing on his wrist computer for a few minutes, before grinning back at them. 'Security's down.'

Adrien beckoned them in through his bedroom window. 'This way.'

They crept quietly through the entry hall, keeping as quiet as they could. The trio was walking toward Mr. Agreste's bedroom when they heard voices from his office. " _Nathalie, add Spanish to Adrien's language lessons. He needs another one._ "

" _Of course, Sir._ "

Ladybug counted out three fingers, and then they burst through the door. She barely caught the looks of shock on both criminals' faces, before Gabriel threw Nathalie her brooch, and he said his transformation. She followed suit immediately, throwing bladed feathers at the three heroes. Each dodged, but it was enough time for Gabriel to let loose an akuma.

Chat was already almost at a breakdown, and they all knew it. The little purple butterfly flew straight for him.

It never made it to him.

He was about to cataclysm it when Ladybug jumped in front of him, letting it phase into her hairtie. Gabriel looked mildly surprised at it, but it didn’t stop him. Like the coward he was, he left Nathalie on her own as he ran out the door. She was down in moments.

Marinette fought off the transformation, but she couldn’t fight off the waves of unending pain that Hawkmoth was sending coursing through her veins. She couldn’t help it. She screamed.

She writhed on the ground, screaming. It felt like hours.

All the while, Gabriel was feeding her insecurities and making her want to end him right then and there.

She could hear the team’s worried voices within her mind, but she couldn’t even summon the coherent thought to answer.

Her whole body felt as if it was being burned alive. She screamed, again, and again, until she couldn’t even speak.

Faintly, Marinette thought she was dying.

All of a sudden, it all stopped. The voices, the pain, _the pain stopped_.

She twitched on the ground, almost too weak to move, and her voice too weak to speak.

Voices flooded into her mind. ‘Ladybug! Are you alright?’

Her voice sounded weak, even in the link. ‘I’m fine. What happened?’

Kid Flash’s voice practically screamed into her head, ‘You are _not_ fine. In fact, you’re still twitching.’

She tried to stop her muscles from spasming, but she couldn’t. ‘I’m fine, trust me. Where’s Gabriel? I saw Robin and Chat taking out Nathalie.’  
Chat ran over to her, speaking in rapid French. “ _Bug! Are you okay? Me and Robin took down Gabriel, and then Kid Flash punched him at superspeed. He’s done._ ”

“ _I’m fine, you just need my yo-yo,_ ” she rasped.

“ _Right!_ ” 

Wally looked confused as he watched the cat-themed hero scramble around the room, looking for her red-and-black spotted yo-yo. “Why do you need that?”

‘My Cure. Chat, purify it.’

He ripped the ribbon in half, before capturing the emerging butterfly inside the small device. “ _Bye, bye, little butterfly!_ ” He passed the yo-yo back to Marinette, who was still laying across Kid Flash.

She called her lucky charm, and threw it into the air, rebuilding the minimal damage done during the short fight, and the damage done to her nerves.

Instantly, she sat up, and even the small bruise Robin had gotten from Hawkmoth’s cane was gone.

‘What was that light?’

‘My Cure. There shouldn’t be any more damage from the fight.’

‘Wow.’

‘Yeah, it’s actually kind of beautiful.’ She heard a sniffle from her right. “ _Oh, Chaton._ ” She stood, enveloping him in a hug. He sobbed into her chest.

‘What happened to him?’ 

‘Um, Chat and Gabriel, knew each other. For a long time. And Chat didn’t know.’ 

‘Aw, I’m sorry Chat!’ 

‘It’s okay. I’ll be fine soon.’ 

Robin called back into the link. ‘Sorry guys, but I called the police, and they’re outside, so you might wanna get out here. They need your statements.’ 

‘We’ll be out in a moment!’ As soon as she thought it, Wally sped to the front door, seeing Nathalie and Gabriel each cuffed, and being put into squad cars. 

‘Wait! Do you have the Miraculouses?’ 

‘The two brooches? Yeah, I grabbed them.’ 

She sagged. ‘Thank you, Robin.’ 

After a few minutes, Chat calmed down. They waited for the lingering redness to leave his bright green eyes, and then they both walked to the police, giving their statements. When the reporters showed up, they gave them the cover story, telling them all about the warning to Adrien, who was being watched over by some of the other superheroes in a nearby ship. 

By the time the media circus ended, it was almost three am. The team said goodbyes, and Marinette and Adrien headed back to the bakery, where they curled up together, no doubt trying to fend off Adrien’s incoming nightmares. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry if this chapter is disappointing to anyone who wanted more. I just wasn't sure how to write it, and this is my first try at a Hawkmoth battle. Sorry!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette and Adrien return to the base after everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Am I fluffing it up before my 'angst' part of the story? Maybe so.

It was about another week before they went back to the base. After everything went public, school had been a disaster.

Alya had been vying for an interview with Adrien since the very hour the news had come out, and it had taken Chloe screaming at her to ‘leave her Adrikins alone!’ to get her to back off. Lila had been livid to find out that Adrien had been adopted by the Dupain-Chengs. It really wasn't going well for her. Apparently the board of Gabriel hadn’t really cared for her modelling work recently, and it had been only Gabriel himself to advocate for her, so she’d been fired before he even had time to warm the bed in his cell.

The rest of the city had been ecstatic to find out that Hawkmoth was finally defeated. In fact, the Mayor had been planning a parade. It was set for next week.

After everything, Adrien had settled in fairly well, and both Sabine and Tom doted on him cheerfully. He was still sad sometimes, and was far less outgoing, especially now knowing that his mother had barely slipped through his grasp.

After the police had searched the house, they had found Emilie’s coffin, but when they opened it, she had died immediately. Adrien had broken down once more, though it had been much harder to deal with this time around. His beloved mother had been under his feet for years, and he had never known.

But, they had been invited back to the Cave to ‘hangout’ by Robin, so now they were in the phone booth that Wonder Woman had shown them the previous week. After some online research, Marinette had found out almost everything the internet had to offer on each kid hero, giving her the insight to bring far more macarons than she normally would.

“ _Bug, why can’t I have more macarons? They’re so good,_ ” he whined.

“ _You already had a whole dozen back home_.”

They walked through the phone booth, with the computer announcing their arrival. Marinette gave a shy wave to the team members gathered in the kitchen just as Kid Flash said something that made Artemis flick the back of his head. She dragged Adrien by the arm into the kitchen.

“We brought… _Chat, what’s the word in English?_ ”

“Macaroons.”

“Oh.” That was kind of simple. “We brought macaroons for you all.”

“Thanks Ladybug!”

“Yeah, thanks!”

“Thank you for your generosity.”

She opened up the large box, an unmarked one, as she hadn’t wanted to give anything away, and set it on the counter. Before she could try to tell them which was which, the area in front of the box blurred, and there were three missing. Marinette jumped back, making Chat snicker. “What happened?”

Robin grinned, “That was Kid Food eating your treats.”

“Oh.” Now that she looked at him, she saw the speedster leaning against the counter, giving her a thumbs up.

“These are amazing, Ladybug. Did you make them?”

“Yep! It did not take long. Ad- Chat helped me.” That started up a whole new round of compliments, making the heroine blush as her partner chuckled.

M’gann smiled at her. “What else do you know? Can you show me how to bake? I can’t even make regular cookies without burning them!”

Marinette brightened considerably. “Can we bake now? What do you want to make?”

“Of course we can bake now! I don’t care what we make, though.”

Chat turned to the rest of the group, who were still finishing off the cookies. “Can I sit down to watch them? This is gonna be funny.”

“Sure, Chat. You can sit on one of the stools, though I don’t get why baking would be fun to watch. Or do.”

Marinette gasped from where she’d been asking M’gann about their supplies. “Baking is the best! You get to have fun, and you get to have food!” Artemis raised a brow, but took a seat next to Chat, along with Wally, who had sat down after eating the last cookie. “What about a cake?”

“If you want to!”

“Okay then! We can do lemon, with raspberry frosting. I don’t wanna do anything too complicated here.”

Artemis leaned over to Chat. “Is she like a professional baker or something?”

“Pretty much, actually.”

“Is that like a Paris thing?”

“No it’s a Ladybug thing. Wait till she gets really involved.” Wally, who had been listening in, looked back over to Ladybug who was listing things off to M’gann.

“Hey Ladybug, anything I can do to help?” He paired the offer with a 'suave' smirk.

She beamed at him, making him sigh. “Yes! M’gann says you do not have any more lemons! Is there a way you can get some for me? Also raspberries!”

He gave her a sloppy salute, “You got it!” He was gone in a blur.

“He’s very nice!” Artemis snorted, along with Robin. Kid Flash appeared right then, holding an armful of raspberry containers, and a huge bag of lemons. Marinette clapped happily, giving him a quick hug. As he turned red, she untied the lemons. “Thank you so much Kid Flash! Now we will be able to make a much bigger cake!”

He rubbed the back of his neck as the others snickered. Even Kaldur had a small smile as they watched him stumble over his words. “U-um, it’s no problem.”

“Still, you brought more than I thought! Can you get me a big bowl, please?”

“Anything for you!” It was immediately in her hands, making her giggle.

“Can someone help me with the oven? The… heat? is wrong.”

Wally sped next to her. “What d’ya need it at?”

“205 degrees Celsius, please!” He did a quick conversion in his head, before setting the dial to 400 degrees and beginning the preheat.

She muttered to herself as she began to search the entire kitchen for different ingredients. Even M’gann stepped back a little as she moved with ease around the unfamiliar kitchen, not even measuring her ingredients as she poured them into the bowl. Within minutes, she had finished the batter for the cake. She frowned adorably after rummaging through the cabinets once more. “I don’t wish to bother you, but would you be able to get me three cake pans, Kid Flash? I need them to finish the cake.”

“Got it! What kind?” She muttered to herself in French, trying to make the translation.

Chat Noir piped up helpfully. “She needs round pans. Different sizes so she can do big at the bottom and small at the top.”

“Sure thing.” He gave another salute, before disappearing once more. He was back in moments with the pans. Marinette filled them with ease, and opened the oven as the preheat timer went off. “Chaton, you do dishes!”

He sighed. “Bug, you forgot to actually teach her. Again.”

Marinette blushed. “Desolè! Or, um, sorry M’gann! I can learn you how to do the frosting?”

“That would be great! Chat was right, it was pretty fun to watch you.” “Sure was!”

"Thank you, but M'gann, you do this.." This time around, Marinette took special care to explain herself as best as she could, letting Adrien jump in at times to translate for her.

By the end, Marinette had frosting all over her face, and some in her hair, but she was grinning brightly at the two bowls. "It is not hard to bake! You just need to know basic… recipes?"

"Very impressive, my friend." "Yeah, that was pretty cool."

She put her face in her hands for a moment before the oven timer went off. "Ooh! It's done! M'gann, I can learn you how to frosting it!" 

"It's 'show', Bug. Not learn, but you're doing pretty good."

"Oui, Chat."

She grabbed the oven mitts retrieved by Kid Flash, and took the pans out of the oven. Then she stuck the pans into the freezer.

"Usually you should put it in the fridge, but I want cake now."

Wally tilted his head, "Why are you freezing it? Oh, wait, would the frosting melt if you out it on now?"

She nodded vigorously. She gave the cakes another four minutes before she pulled them out of the freezer and carefully stacked them on the plate, sticking them together with the frosting. "M'gann, you do this cake? I can do top and… middle, and then you do it."

"Okay!"

Marinette pulled out a butter knife, mourning the absence of her favorite frosting knives as she smoothed the icing around it. She smiled, and looked to M'gann, who was using her telepathy to try and do it perfectly. She got it well, but not nearly as well as Ladybug. 

"Very good! Do you have… bags?"

"What kind?" They all looked to Chat, who shrugged. “She usually has everything she needs. I don't know what she's trying to do. I'm pretty sure she wants an icing bag, but you guys don't have them."

"Non, no icy bag, I need the one like this." She made several motions with her hands until they understood. Artemis got up and grabbed the sandwich baggies from one of the drawers. Marinette lit up, before filling the bag with the icing without blackberries. After the bag was almost full, she pulled off the corner of the bag, turning it into a makeshift icing bag. She bit at the corner of her lip as she decorated the cake before the Team's eyes. She added small swirls, hearts, and little drawn-on daisies. Finally, she set the bag down, and smiled at the group, who were all looking very impressed. “Now we can eat it!”

“But it’s so pretty, Ladybug!”

Ladybug looked puzzled. “We made it to eat, did we not?”

“Heck yeah! I want a big slice.”

Artemis put a hand on M’gann’s shoulder. “We can just take a few pictures, M’gann.”

“Oh, that’s a good idea. We better do it before Wally eats it.” She flew back to her room, grabbing her phone, and snapping a few photos of the cake.

When slices had been doled out, Wally groaned as he ate his portion. “This is so good. I literally want this cake for the rest of my life.”

“Yeah, this is really good, Ladybug.”

“Really? I’m happy you like it, M’gann, but Maman makes them better. Maybe next time we can do something harder.”

“I want to meet your Mom if she does better. I _need_ more of this cake.” Wally cut another piece, devouring it in seconds.

“Thank you!” Marinette served herself a slice, smiling as she bit into it. It _was_ a good cake. They talked for a few more minutes, before Marinette’s yo-yo beeped, telling her that they’d spent a full two hours at the base. “Oh, Chat, we need to go back! Maman will be wondering where we are.”

“Got it Bug.” He got up, shovelling the last of his slice into his mouth.

“We should go to the beach next time! We haven’t gone with Wal-Kid Flash yet.” M’gann blurted out.

“Okay! Next week?”

“Yes, don’t forget your swimsuits!”

“Okay!” Marinette did one quick mental scan of the room to make sure she wasn’t forgetting anything, and then the two Parisians walked to the Zeta tubes, waving as their forms vanished.


End file.
